Day 1306, Civil Rights 

 

Our civil rights are not a zero sum game;

Extended to others, yours still stay the same.

Though undeserved privilege may take a hit,

The size of the civil rights pie grows a bit.

 

The privilege of color has never been earned.

Racism’s not inborn, it has to be learned.

Our varied skin colors are just history

Of how our ancestors made vitamin D.

 

If slavery was our original sin,

With racism, not thrown into the trash bin,

And Jim Crow laws gone but still stuck in the mind,

It’s clearer why some folks are still left behind.

 

Our bigotry’s still taught at home, church, and school.

In all of these places, we learn to be cruel

And think civil rights are a zero sum game;

As long as we teach this, things will stay the same.